A Simple Tip On Teaching Puppy Training Commands
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Today’s puppy training tip is a very simple concept however, I pretty much guarantee you that we all make this mistake on occasion.
If you’ve ever attended a puppy kindergarten, puppy obedience, or dog obedience training class then I’m sure you’ve heard most of the handlers working on basic puppy training commands like sit, down, stay, come, etc. So if you have witnessed one of these obedience classes then you may have heard or seen a scenario like this:
Dog Trainer: “Now tell your dog to SIT.”
Puppy Handler: “Fido sit…sit…sit…sit….sit…sit….good boy!”
So, what just happened there? Well, our hero, “Puppy Handler” kept telling his puppy, Fido to “sit”. In fact, he told Fido to “sit” a grand total of 6 times before Fido finally followed the command and put his butt to the pavement. Now you might be asking what’s wrong with that? And that brings us to today’s puppy training tip:
Teaching Puppy Training Commands
When teaching puppy training command do the following:
- Tell your puppy the command 1 time. For example “Sit”
- Give your puppy a moment to process the command, “sit”.
- If after waiting your puppy does not move into the “sit” position then move him into the “position” (with our puppy’s I usually lure them into position with a treat when they are young pups).
The key here is you are only to tell your puppy a command 1 time. If he doesn’t follow that command then you DO NOT repeat the command. If you do, then your puppy is learning that when you say “sit…sit…sit…sit…sit…sit” that means the command “sit” and he will learn to only follow the command after you’ve said it 6 times.
So in a nutshell. Today’s lesson is:
“WHEN TEACHING PUPPY TRAINING COMMANDS ONLY SAY A COMMAND ONCE.”
If you stick to this simple rule you’ll notice your puppy will start learning his commands much quicker. As I’ve mentioned in the past…Be Consistent! Say the command once then make sure your puppy follows through on the proper action.
That’s it! Very simple indeed, but I bet you a million dollars that when you’re working on your training you will say a puppy training command multiple times. Trust me. I’ve been working with my puppies and I’ve known this rule for over 7 years and yet I still catch myself saying commands more than once. The dog trainers from our guide dog group chastise me every time because they know that I know this simple rule. I’m getting better 🙂
Now that you’ve read this simple puppy training tip, go home, work on your puppy or dog obedience command, then come back to the blog and tell me how many times you said your commands.
Do you have any simple tips on teaching puppy training commands? Tell us about them in the comment section below!
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Thank you
Still working on it with him he just wants to run.
Unfortunately, we haven’t written a full blog post on loose leash walking yet, but here are a couple quick tips we did/do with Archer:
1. We started by walking backwards. Basically we walked backwards luring him forward with a treat. Interestingly enough while we moved backwards he’d stay in front of us the entire time on loose leash. After mastering the backwards walk we transitioned with a pivot and kept Archer focused and by our side. Tough to explain words. I’ll see if I can get a demo together in a future post.
2. A game we play with our dogs in open space is basically a simon says type game. Walk forward, turn left, turn right, about face, etc. With Archer it helps him keep his focus on me.
What is the best way to teach him to heel on the lead, he’s 12 weeks old
Hi Ruby,
It sounds like you’re already doing very well with your puppy’s training. One thing you want to do is make sure you puppy always follow through on any command you give. If you say “Come” and he does not come then he is learning he does not have to “come” when given that command. Here’s a good article on how to teach your puppy his name which is essentially the same as teaching “come” because whenever you say your puppy’s name he should return to you. Take a look at: https://puppyintraining.com/how-to-teach-your-puppy-his-name/
Good luck with your training!
Colby
What is the best way to teach a nine month old puppy to COME on command…she knows SIT, STAY and will sit up (for treats or to get my attention)…also learning NO BARK, NO JUMP, NO BITE. Thanks for any help ( I’m 75 and want my puppy to be a ‘good neighbor’…she gets along great with people and other dogs.)
Hi Govind,
I haven’t heard of boiled eggs be toxic to dogs, but I would first check with your veterinarian to see if boiled eggs are okay for such a young puppy.
Colby
Hey Guys !
Can i give my German shepherd pup boiled egg pieces as treats during training ?